Royal Yet Relevant !
Jennifer Hagle , Sidley Austin LLP Chair , Board of Regents
One of my favorite parts of the annual induction celebration is seeing the beaming families of the inductees , especially the children and grandchildren , each so proud of their Mom / Dad / Grandma / Grandpa -- but not totally understanding what all of the hullabaloo is really about . As but one example , I was told by one Fellow that his son analogized the event to the bankruptcy “ Hall of Fame ”. I loved that -- so I decided to ask some of the other kids what they thought the honor really meant . I was told the College is like the bankruptcy “ A-Team ” and the bankruptcy “ Elite .” But my favorite was one daughter who said her mom was part of bankruptcy “ Royalty – like a Princess ” ( evening gown and all )!
Well , I have to agree that the College really is something like bankruptcy “ royalty ” – and we should certainly celebrate our collective successes during that special induction weekend every year . However , as anyone who has binged “ The Crown ” can tell you , the “ real ” Royals are unfortunately at risk of becoming irrelevant . And so it occurred to me , how do we collectively insure that the College remains royal – yet relevant -- in a fast-paced , ever-changing profession bombarded by everything from virtual technology to social media to AI ?
Fortunately , there are many ways that the College is and will continue to remain relevant – as long as we fellows continue to
meet the challenge by committing to the following core values and goals .
Diversity – No institution can truly remain relevant unless it reflects the changing faces of the communities within which we work , live and play . Over the past several years , while continuing to embrace the standards that truly distinguish us as “ royalty ”, the College has challenged all of us to intentionally cast a broader net to identify prospective fellows so that diversity within the College will continue to expand . As a direct result of these efforts , Class XXXV is one of the most diverse ( 43 %) and young ( defined as under 50 , 34 %) ever to be inducted .
Education – One of the core values of the College is to identify educational programs for sponsorship and develop programs designed to further its educational purpose . There is no better way to stay relevant than to continue to attract the best and brightest students out of law school and recruit them into the bankruptcy practice – and then continue to advance their knowledge base and networking opportunities through interesting and engaging educational programming . Additionally , the Distinguished Law Student Committee is a key component to building the pipeline of future fellows – and it is no coincidence that the number and impressive quality of applicants has multiplied exponentially over the past several years .
Public Service / Pro Bono Work – Nowhere is the College ’ s relevance better reflected than with respect to its expansive pro bono efforts . The Pro Bono Committee works tirelessly
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